A BRONZE PLAQUETTE OF HERCULES AND THE NEMEAN LION

WORKSHOP OF GALEAZZO MONDELLA, CALLED MODERNO (1467-1528), EARLY 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE PLAQUETTE OF HERCULES AND THE NEMEAN LION
WORKSHOP OF GALEAZZO MONDELLA, CALLED MODERNO (1467-1528), EARLY 16TH CENTURY
With inventory numbers on the reverse '501', '37', '6' and '1'.
Dark brown patina with brassy high points; minor nicks.
3 in. (7.8 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
G. AND F.V. Toderi, Plachette: Secoli XV-XVIII nel Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, 1996, no. 154, p. 87.

Lot Essay

Although there are no signed examples of this composition, the attribution to Moderna is universally accepted. The present model was made as a pendant to a plaquette depicting Hercules and Antaeus. The theme of Hercules and the Nemean Lion was well known in the Renaissance and derived ultimately from Antique sources. The story depicted is the first Labour of Hercules, in which he saves the citizens of Nemea from a lion which cannot be hurt by the hero's weapons, forcing him to strangle the beast to death.

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